The day us progressed
by MzDany
Summary: Sequel to "The day us began". A robbery gone wrong has Sky playing chauffeur to an alien with dangerous powers…..Sky/Bridge
1. Chapter 1

At SPD Delta Base in NewTech City, the day started with an unusual occurrence for the B–Squad Rangers – downtime.

No scheduled patrols, no alien invasion, no giant robots stomping on buildings downtown…Consequently, Sky Tate had a pretty good feeling about this day as he walked into the SPD rec room, muscles pleasantly sore from a good workout at the gym. The rest of the team was assembled there, doing absolutely nothing productive.

Z and Jack were playing each other at videogames, Syd was reading a fashion magazine, and Bridge was seated at a table by the window overflowing with electronics clutter, tinkering with something comprehensible only to him. RIC was sitting by his side, butting against his leg and without looking up from what he was doing, Bridge dropped a gloved hand onto the robotic dog's head. He scratched his metallic ear, and RIC actually _purred._

Bridge was completely unaware of Sky's presence – or of anyone else's other than RIC's, for that matter - so absorbed was he in what he was doing. Sky let his eyes linger on his boyfriend for a few unobserved moments. Just like Bridge, he was still getting used to the changes in their relationship. Barely two weeks had passed since the aftermath of Bridge's abduction by a bio-terrorist (*) had led to an unexpected revelation of their true feelings for each other. They had expanded the physical side of their relationship to enthusiastic kisses and touches since then, but with anything beyond that, they were going at Bridge's pace.

They were also keeping their deeper relationship to themselves for the time being. Not because they didn't trust their teammates, but to protect them; they were breaking the non-fraternization rules, after all, and if they got caught, at least the team wouldn't be implicated with them.

 _Which is why you shouldn't gawk at your secret lover that long in public…_ Sky dropped his gaze and took in the relaxed scene before him instead with a small smile. They didn't get nearly enough opportunities to just have fun anymore. But he did have a reputation to uphold, so…

"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" He crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at Jack and Z. "Like training?"

"We are!" Jack exclaimed without looking up from the screen in front of him. "Hand-eye coordination training, see?" The Red Ranger's fingers flew over the controller's buttons, and on the screen, Z's virtual fighter went down in a blaze of laser fire and smoke.

"Hey! Not fair! Z threw down her controller with an exclamation of disgust and glared at a shamelessly smirking Jack. Sky rolled his eyes.

"How about a round, Sky?" Jack snatched up the discarded controller and held it out to Sky, but the Blue Ranger shook his head.

"Na. I'm gonna hit the shower. Unlike any of you, I have some sweat to wash off me." He gave a half-wave and turned to go, chuckling at the sound of Z's voice swearing revenge on Jack in the next round.

* * *

They were halfway through their next fight when all of a sudden, each Ranger's morpher chirped to life simultaneously. Jack chucked his controller into Z's lap and flipped open his communicator.

"Rangers, we have a large-scale hostage situation in sector 3. Meet me outside of NewTech Citizen's Bank asap!" their canine commander's voice barked over the line.

Jack looked at the Rangers now assembled around him. "You heard the big blue dog, guys," he sighed. "Rec time's over."

"Wait, what about Sky?" Syd asked as they turned to sprint out the door.

Bridge cocked his head and frowned. "Yeah, where is he?"

"He was heading towards your room about ten minutes ago," Z said.

"Oh, ok. I'll go get him."

They hurried out the door, Bridge turning left while the rest of the team turned right. He was through the door of the quarters he shared with Sky a minute later. The sound of rushing water drew him straight towards their bathroom, and Bridge was too preoccupied with the thought of multiple hostages to notice one crucial difference in their roommate routine until it was too late.

They usually showered with the door closed, but since Sky had thought himself alone in their room, he had obviously skipped that step today. Consequently, Bridge found himself standing in the open doorway to their bathroom, Sky's name lodged in his throat at the sight before him.

The bathroom was steamy, but because of the open door, not quite steamed up enough; Bridge could make out the figure inside the glass-enclosed shower cubicle quite clearly. Sky was in full profile, facing the wall, left hand pressed against the tiles. His head was down, the water cascading down his neck and back, while his right hand was slowly moving through his soaked hair. His right leg stuck out at an angle, obscuring Bridge's view of the last bit of his partner's gloriously nude body, but it also presented him with a full eyeful of a perfectly round buttock, a beautifully sculpted thigh, and long, muscular legs.

It was the sexiest sight Bridge had ever seen. Absolute turn-on.

He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone completely dry, and his heart was thumping so wildly that he was afraid it would break through his ribcage. Now Sky's head rose slowly, up towards the jets. Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, he let the hot water pummel his face, and Bridge could take it no more.

Before he lost his last bit of self-control, forgot all about the alarm, tore off his clothes and gloves and seriously invaded Sky's personal space in that shower, Bridge did the only other thing he could do; retreat. He backed away from the threshold and out into the bedroom. Back pressed against the wall right next to the door frame, Bridge closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart and the incessant twitching in his pants. _Focus! Have to focus! Why am I here? Oh yeah, Ranger alert!_

Without looking, he reached behind him and rapped a shaking hand against the door frame with just a little more force than necessary. "Sky!"

The water turned off. "Yeah?"

"Ranger alert. We have a hostage situation," Bridge called out, eyes still firmly trained away from the bathroom threshold. He hoped his voice sounded stable. "Sorry."

A muffled curse came from the shower cubicle, then: "I'll be right there."

"I…uh…I'll wait in the garage for you."

Bridge beat a hasty retreat from their room. Tugging inconspicuously at the front of his uniform pants, he jogged down the hallway in the direction of the garage and their Delta Cycles, wondering how many nights the image of Sky in the shower would haunt his dreams.

* * *

The B-squad arrived at the scene of the crime to find the organized chaos that usually accompanied large-scale operations in public areas: News and police helicopters were circling overhead, law enforcement vehicles of half a dozen agencies were parked in the road and along sidewalks, effectively surrounding the bank building, and scores of gawking pedestrians were craning their necks from behind police barricades to catch a glimpse of anything.

The team spotted their commander right away. Doggie Cruger stood by an official police SUV, deep in conversation with NTC's chief of police. His canine countenance was troubled.

"What do we know so far, sir?" Jack asked after a quick salute, but it was the chief of police who replied.

"Not enough yet, Rangers. Three bank robberies occurred simultaneously in three different branches of NewTech Citizen's Banks, but in the other two locations, the robbers got away. In this case…" he motioned towards the bank entrance, "we have an alien perpetrator who attempted to rob this bank, but the teller managed to sound the alarm and the place locked down. Problem is that he brought along some thermonuclear explosive devices, which he promptly set all around the main lobby and is now holding three tellers and four customers as hostages."

"We have established communication contact with the perp," Cruger added. "He calls himself Corian, and based on facial recognition footage from the bank's CCTV his origin is Kraylean, but that's all we know at this point. He said he will be in contact again soon with his demands in exchange for the hostages."

Bridge frowned. "If he brought thermonuclear bombs, then it's safe to say that he would also have his own personal deflector shield on him for protection," he surmised. "That means he could detonate all those devices simultaneously and still walk away unharmed."

"He wouldn't get far, since the place is surrounded," Jack stated the obvious.

"True, he can't get out, but we can't get in, either," Cruger bared his teeth in frustration. "Scans confirm the presence of thermonuclear charges at every point of entry in the main lobby. They also indicate that the charges are rigged to blow the moment anyone attempts to open the doors to get in or out."

Sky crossed his arms and cast a thoughtful look at the bank entrance. "So we are at an impasse."

Before Cruger could reply, the chief of police's official communicator sounded. "It's from Corian," the chief announced. "Pre-recorded message. Audio only."

He opened the comm channel, and a gruff baritone voice filled the air around them.

" _This is for whoever is in charge out there. By now I'm sure you've scanned this building and discovered my little blow-up toys. Let me assure you that they are hot and I am the only one who can deactivate them. One of those beauties is enough to bring this building down, and I have four of them. Which makes me the one with the bargaining power. I want a fully fueled Surface-To-Orbit shuttle right outside those lobby doors in ten minutes, max. In exchange, I'll not blow up half the city block. Ten minutes. Time starts now."_

The recording ended and Cruger and the police chief were left staring at each other gravely. "Your thoughts, Commander?" the chief asked.

Doggie Cruger took a sweeping look around the immediate area. "I think that ten minutes is not nearly enough time to clear the streets and evacuate the buildings adjacent to the bank," he concluded. "If Corian is crazy enough to detonate those devices, the casualty rate will be catastrophic. I'd hate to see a scumbag like him get away scot-free, but in this case it's the lesser of the two evils."

Commander Cruger opened his comm line to the Delta Base and directed Kat Manx to send over the requested transport shuttle via remote-pilot, and a few minutes later, a small, rectangular spacecraft touched down in the street between the bank entrance and the group of Rangers. Its engines powered down and the hatch door opened, ready to receive its passengers.

The bank's front door opened promptly and two people stepped outside. A terrified middle-aged man in a business suit emerged first, and behind him was Corian, a surprisingly humanoid-looking alien clad in a jumpsuit-like garment. Slightly taller and wider than his human shield, he sported an unruly mop of purplish hair on top of a pale, almost translucent head. Dark veins stood out prominently against his light skin, running up the sides of his neck and face and along the backs of his hands. One of those hands was holding up the thermal detonator switch for everyone to see, while with the other one he held a blaster to his hostage's head. The alien's violet eyes scanned the area around him while he nudged the shaking man forward and towards the shuttle's open hatch. Once he took one look inside the shuttle, however, Corian's eyes settled on the group of Rangers with a scowl. "Where is the pilot?"

Cruger stepped forward. "You asked for a shuttle. You didn't specify that you needed a pilot."

"That should have been a given," the alien snarled. "I don't know how to fly a Terran shuttle." He nudged the frightened business man. "Do you know how to fly this shuttle?"

When the man wordlessly shook his head, Corian glared at Cruger. "Get me a pilot. Now."

A few feet away, the premonitory vibe from Sky hit Bridge a split second before he saw his partner's head turn towards their commander. "I'll do it, sir."

The big blue dog tilted his head, regarding his Blue Ranger. "Are you sure about this, Sky?"

Sky nodded solemnly. "This is the STO-55, an M-Class mid-range transport shuttle, and I've flown this type of spacecraft before. I also have the most pilot training out of everyone on the team. It makes sense, sir."

Next to him, Bridge felt like he had been punched in the stomach, and from the grave looks on the rest of the Rangers' faces, they felt the same way. None of them wanted Sky to put himself in harm's way, but these risks came with the job. They had all sworn an oath to protect Earth, but did Sky have to _volunteer_ to remove this alien sleazebag from the planet? Bridge stared at his partner, but Sky was looking at Cruger and avoiding everyone else's eyes. He had made his decision and now he was waiting for his commanding officer to approve.

And Cruger did with a curt nod towards his cadet, before he addressed Corian. "Very well, but this civilian is staying here," he said, indicating the business man Corian still kept at gun point. "No one else in the shuttle but you and my officer."

"Fine, fine. Let's just get this show on the road," Corian snapped impatiently. "But no weapons or communicators."

Cruger motioned towards the detonator in Corian's hand. "What about the bombs, Corian?"

"I will turn off the detonator once we're airborne. That will deactivate the bombs and make them safe to remove." Corian shrugged at the skeptical look on the commander's face. "You will just have to trust me, SPD. Now let's go, I have places to be!"

Cruger turned to Sky and made a show of saluting him while he murmured in a barely audible voice: "Transmit your destination coordinates as soon as you're able to." _So that the team can meet you there._

"Yes, sir." Sky's lips barely moved as he returned the salute. He faced his grim-looking teammates, nodding to them all in turn, but his eyes lingered on the Green Ranger.

"Sky…" Bridge whispered, but left the sentence unfinished. There was nothing he could have said out loud anyways. He communicated with his eyes instead. _Please don't do this._

"It's ok, I'll see you later." The look in Sky's eyes was apologetic as he unclipped his blaster and morpher and handed both to Bridge. _You know I have to._

They took two more precious seconds to look at one another, hugging each other with their eyes, then Sky turned, put his hands up in the air and walked towards the shuttle.

The exchange of Sky for the business man went without a hitch, and a few moments later Bridge watched the shuttle ramp retract with a feeling like someone had poured acid into his guts. He looked down at his partner's morpher in his hand. _'Please be safe out there, Sky.'_

Next to him, Syd must have noticed how tightly he was clutching Sky's gear, for she nudged Bridge gently. "Hey, he'll be ok. If anyone can take care of himself in this kind of situation, it's Sky. And don't forget that he still has his shields."

Bridge nodded. She was right, of course. Sky was quick to think on his feet, probably the best out of all of them in this regard. And he might not be armed right now, but because of his force fields he was never defenseless.

None of it changed the fact that Bridge felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest while he watched the shuttle take off.

TBC…

(*)see "The day us began"


	2. Chapter 2

From the minute Sky stepped into the cockpit of the shuttle, Corian never let him out of his sight for a moment. The alien was wary and alert, keeping a careful distance, his gun level with Sky's chest as he motioned him towards the pilot's chair. Sky had barely settled into the seat when Corian all but stuck the gun into his face.

"Ok, first things first. Where is the hidden blaster?"

 _Damn!_ Sky kept his face expressionless. "I don't know what you mean."

"Please. I might not be familiar with your shuttle systems, but I'm not stupid," Corian sneered. "This is a military vehicle, so there is a hidden weapon somewhere in this cockpit. Hand it over."

Sky sighed inwardly; he had hoped that Corian wasn't aware of this little-known aspect of military shuttle design, but unfortunately, that was now no longer an option. He reached underneath the pilot console and popped open a concealed compartment. He was about to reach inside when he felt the barrel of the alien's gun against the back of his head.

"Slowly. Don't try anything dumb."

Sky handed over the SPD blaster as instructed. The Kraylean stuck the weapon into his belt with a smirk, then made himself comfortable in the co-pilot seat.

"All right, then. Off we go, SPD."

Sky took half a moment to consider whether he should introduce himself, but dismissed the idea just as quickly; civility would be lost on someone like Corian. He busied himself with the lift-off preparations instead, and soon the shuttle was ascending into the atmosphere.

"All right, we are airborne," Sky announced as NewTech City was dwindling beneath them. "Time for your part of the deal."

"Oh, you mean this here?" Corian grinned, twirling the detonator around in the palm of his hand like it was one of those anti-stress squeeze balls, then caught Sky completely off-guard when he suddenly tossed the device at the Blue Ranger, who caught it reflexively.

"The signal connection cut out pretty much right after we took off," he declared with a chuckle. "The range on that thing is ridiculously short. But that's what you get when you buy your merchandise from a second-rate black market dealer in the Kerovian cluster."

Sky frowned first at Corian, then at the useless device in his hand. "Are the bombs even real?" he wanted to know.

"Oh, they're real," Corian said. "And it sucks that I had to leave them behind. They're free presents for the bomb squad now." The alien let out an angry growl and hit his seat's armrest with a balled fist. "This whole operation was nothing but a disaster! This was supposed to be an easy hit, but NO! One wrong move, and here I am in this crummy ship, not only empty-handed but with out-of-pocket expenses, since I have to get more bombs now!"

"Maybe your heist buddies will share their loot with you," Sky said and Corian let out a snort.

"Yeah, right, as if they would…" He cut himself off abruptly and glared at Sky menacingly, but the damage was already done. Sky kept his grin to himself as he filed away the mental note that now linked Corian's botched robbery with the other two successful ones back in NewTech City.

"Just shut up and fly the damn shuttle," Corian growled.

"I will need your destination coordinates for that," Sky said. "We are approaching orbit."

Still scowling, Corian fished a datapad out of a roomy pocket of his jumpsuit, did some scrolling, then showed Sky the screen. "You will input these exact coordinates and take the quickest route," he instructed him. "No stops, no detours. And don't try to pull a fast one on me by trying to transmit the coordinates back to SPD." Corian held the gun up in emphasis. "Also – maintain radio silence until we get to our destination."

"That's against SPD regulations Section 2, Article 395, paragraph…"

"Do I look like I give a damn?" Corian snapped.

He most certainly didn't, and Sky didn't bother with any further arguments. Corian was the one with the gun, after all. It took Sky a minute to program the navigational computer and when he looked back up he found Corian leaning forward in his seat, his arm stretched out towards Sky and his strange, violet eyes firmly fixed on the Blue Ranger's head. The Kraylean wasn't actually touching him, his hand merely hovered within a few inches of his temple, but Sky jerked his head back nevertheless.

"What are you doing?" he asked, but Corian didn't seem to feel the need to reply. He ignored Sky while simultaneously watching him with what Sky could only consider an _assessing_ look. It was creepy and intrusive, but there was nothing Sky could do about it.

"Hm, now this is interesting…" Corian tilted his head, still regarding Sky with narrowed eyes. "This falls squarely into the _'no weapons on board other than mine'_ category, so…"

Corian's long, pale fingers wiggled and suddenly Sky felt a slight tingling sensation that seemed to emanate _from within his brain. H_ e shook his head reflexively and Corian snickered.

"Go ahead, try to create one of your force fields."

Sky cut his eyes at him, but managed to keep the surprise off his face "My what?"

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Corian said. "I just sensed your genetic enhancement – and I took care of it." He motioned to Sky's hand. "See for yourself."

Sky regarded him with furrowed brows; an ominous feeling was settling into his chest at the smirk on the Kraylean's face. He raised his palm to summon a force field.

Nothing happened.

Heart now hammering in his chest, he tried again – with the same results.

" _What did you do?"_

"I cut the connection between your force fields and your brain." Corian's smirk widened at the expression of disbelief and horror on Sky's face. "It's a little special ability I have. To be able to detect other people's special abilities – and to disable them. Works especially well with Terrans. Human brains are laughably easy to manipulate." He leaned back into the copilot's chair, looking self-satisfied. "Don't worry, your force fields are still there, your brain just doesn't know how to access them right now. I'll reestablish the connection once we get to my destination. _If_ you don't step out of line, SPD."

Sky felt like he had been doused with ice water. His shields were part of him; it felt like Corian had cut off one of his limbs. For the first time in his life, he was suddenly just like everybody else.

Utterly vulnerable.

He stared at his hand, willing his force field to appear against all odds, and when it didn't, he leveled a disdainful look at Corian who didn't seem bothered by it in the least.

"Don't worry, SPD. You get me to the rendezvous point in time to catch my other ride and I'll get you your shields back. In the meantime, enjoy being normal for a while." Corian answered Sky's smoldering glare with a condescending smile. "Just don't bother me with small-talk along the way."

His datapad chirped, indicating incoming messages, and the alien turned his attention to his device, effectively dismissing Sky to his piloting duties.

There was nothing else for the Blue Ranger to do but to monitor the controls, however, and with Corian ignoring him in favor of his datapad, Sky was left to his own thoughts. Looking out into the vastness of space, he let out a heavy breath; when had this nice day taken such a turn south? A few hours ago he had been at Delta Base, planning a quiet evening for just him and Bridge, and now…

He had it all laid out in his head: They would lounge on his bed, watch a movie, snack on some extra-buttery popcorn, Bridge would keep up a running commentary on every scene until Sky would eventually lean over and shut him up by kissing him. Bridge would kiss him back and that's when they would get to the really interesting part of the evening.

He would lick Bridge's mouth open, and Bridge would moan and press himself tighter to him and he would take Bridge's hand and guide it underneath his shirt and let him do all the exploring he wanted. Then he would flip them over and do some exploring himself until he had Bridge writhing beneath him…

"Hey, SPD, how much longer to the rendezvous point?"

Sky blinked and threw Corian a side-glare while he silently berated himself for his lapse in attention. He was in a very confined space with an armed and dangerous criminal; definitely not the place to be daydreaming about his boyfriend. He checked the navigational computer. "About four hours."

Corian barked out some guttural sounds in his native language that the translator embedded in Sky's SPD badge either couldn't or deemed too offensive to translate.

"Can't this bucket go any faster? Light-speed or something like that?"

"No," Sky said tersely. "This is a mid-range personnel transport shuttle, it's not equipped with faster-than-light technology."

"At least crank it up to maximum speed, then," Corian ordered him. "I'm not crazy about being cooped up in this oversized toaster with you for another _four_ hours."

"The feeling's mutual, believe me," Sky muttered while he increased their velocity. Corian turned his attention back to his messaging device, typing and muttering to himself when he received replies.

Sky deduced that Corian was most likely communicating with the rest of his gang, coordinating a meeting at the location they were heading to. He couldn't help but wonder if this meeting would be amicable or hostile, possibly leaving him in the midst of a confrontation that might turn deadly.

And even if Corian's reunion with his fellow gang members went well, there was no guarantee whatsoever that they would just let Sky turn around and head back home. The STO-55 was a valuable piece of military equipment, after all, and a reliable means of transportation. If the bank robbers decided to simply keep the shuttle and dispose of him…

Of course, the best case scenario was if they never reached the rendezvous point at all.

Sky cast an unobtrusive glance at his passenger. The Kraylean was still typing away at his device while lounging in the co-pilot's chair. He had not even bothered with putting on his safety harness - and that slip now gave Sky an idea.

The 55 was one of SPD's most maneuverable transport shuttles. He had flown it more than a few times in the past, and there were a few specific training exercises he remembered well from back then…

Sky kept his face expressionless as he stared at the command console while a plan was forming in his head. _It would work, he had practiced this many times during flight training, and his own harness would keep him in place…_ His hands tightened on the control stick as he centered his core in anticipation of the maneuver.

Corian's attention was still firmly on the datapad's screen when Sky suddenly yanked the control stick to the right, hard. The alien's surprised yell resonated through the cockpit as he was catapulted out of his seat and slammed heavily into the bulkhead while the shuttle flipped on its side, and Sky couldn't keep the smirk off his face at the sound of Corian's body hitting the shuttle ceiling and the Kraylean's subsequent wail of pain.

He completed the barrel roll, and Corian crashed to the shuttle floor with a satisfying thump and an agonized groan.

The instant the shuttle was upright again, Sky hit the autopilot, then the release button on his harness and shot out of his seat. Even if Corian wasn't knocked out he was at least dazed and that would give Sky enough time to overpower him. It would only take a second to reach him, he was only a few feet away.

Except that, when he rounded the copilot chair, Corian was looking straight at him, his hand moved, just a flick of his wrist, and then….

Absolute nothingness!

The instant absence of _everything_ made Sky cry out in shock. Or at least he thought he cried out, since not the slightest sound came out of his mouth. His sight, his hearing, his voice, the shuttle floor beneath his feet…everything was simply _gone_ , as if someone had flipped a switch in his brain!

 _Am I dead?_

It was the first thing that came into his mind. He was weightless, adrift in an endless, pitch-black sea of silence. There was no up or down, not a single point to focus on. He tried to reach out, call out, but there was nothing and no one, and this was more frightening than anything he had ever encountered in his entire life.

But he wasn't dead. On a basic, instinctual level he knew that he was still in his body, was still inside the shuttle, but he was also completely cut off from both.

 _What is happening to me?_

He knew his heart was still beating, he was still breathing, but he couldn't feel any of it and the nothingness was pressing down on him, he was drowning in blackness and he needed to get out of here, get out, _getoutgetout_ …

"That was such a stupid thing to do, SPD."

The voice that cut through the black silence was like a beacon, and Sky immediately honed in on it like a lifeline. Corian sounded pained, undoubtedly still hurting from the tumble he took – and mad.

 _What did you do to me?_

"I'm sure you're wondering what's going on. Well, here is a little tidbit I didn't mention to you earlier: I can't just switch off your special powers, I can switch off all of your senses, cut you off from every sensation. And I can keep them off for as long as I want."

Fear was a crushing feeling, and Sky never thought he could experience a fear so pure without any of his senses to support it. But maybe that was exactly what made the dread that was now coursing through him at Corian's words just that much worse.

"You should see yourself right now, crouched in front of me like a crumbled bag of flesh and bones," Corian told him, and he sounded like he loved it. "Pathetic, but then again, everyone I do this to ends up looking like this."

Then his voice turned sinister. "If I didn't still need you to fly this thing, I would beat you within an inch of your life for what you did, and I would turn on your sense of feeling just for that."

Sky wanted to scream. Scream out his frustration, his rage, his fear at this crushing helplessness. To know that this scumbag had his body at his disposal to do with as he pleased and there was nothing Sky could do to defend himself. He wanted to kick, punch, bite, scratch, anything. _But how?_

"Believe it or not, you've only been trapped inside your head for five minutes. Feels a whole lot longer, doesn't it?"

The voice shifted, and suddenly it was a lot closer. Corian must be speaking right into his ear. "I have it on good authority that an hour without your senses can feel like days. How long do you think you can stay sane inside the big black nothing, hmm? Would you like to find out?" There was that hateful snicker again. "Since you so helpfully put the shuttle on autopilot, I really don't need you now until we're getting ready to land in a few hours, do I?"

 _No, NO! Don't leave me stuck in here like this!_

"Or are you going to behave if I let you out of your head?"

Under any other circumstances, Sky would rather have bitten off his tongue than give a bastard like Corian a concession of subservience, but in this case it was the lesser of the two evils.

"What's it going to be, SPD? Yes or no?" Corian was laughing again. "Oh, right, you can't speak. Just try to nod or shake your head, then."

Sky made his best effort at nodding and a moment later, sensory deprivation became sensory overload as Corian flipped the mental switch in his brain and all five of his senses came rushing back at him simultaneously.

He instinctively sucked in a big lungful of air while he squinted at the cockpit lights, which seemed ten times brighter than before. It took him a moment to get his bearings and to realize that he was half-sitting, half-lying on the shuttle floor with Corian looming over him. He looked up and into the barrel of Corian's blaster.

The Kraylean's smile was cold. "I guess I can't blame you for trying, but don't pull a stunt like that again." He motioned with his weapon. "Now get back to your seat."

Sky rose with as much dignity as he could muster and resumed his seat behind the pilot console. When he gripped the control stick he didn't know what he hated more: that his hand was shaking, or that Corian saw it shake.

"And from now on - no more seat belts, SPD."

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

The next hour passed in almost complete silence until Corian suddenly rose and headed towards the back of the small passenger compartment where the food synthesizer was built into the back bulkhead.

He never so much as looked back at his pilot on his way through the shuttle; he obviously believed Sky to be sufficiently cowed into passivity by his recent experience with senseless-ness.

Sky ignored him as well, silently grateful for the momentary respite; the alien's constant close proximity had been grating on him ever since take-off, but even more so since he had revealed his powers. The solitude turned out to be short-lived, however.

"How do you work this stupid replicator?" came Corian's frustrated voice a few minutes later.

"Figure it out yourself," Sky told him without turning around. "I might be your chauffeur, but I'm not your butler."

His vision went dark with the same abruptness as before and Sky flinched violently. Panic surged up immediately in his chest, but he clamped down on it. He could still hear, could still feel the seat beneath him and the control stick in his hand. Could hopefully still talk.

"Cut. It. Out." Sky ground out between clenched teeth and heard Corian snicker behind him.

"Show me how to work the replicator."

Sky took a deep breath and willed his racing heart to slow down. "All right."

His sight returned; He hit the autopilot, then made his way to the back of the shuttle in resignation. Corian was watching him approach with a smug and superior smile that Sky wanted nothing more than to punch off his face. As succinctly as possible he showed him which buttons to push to synthesize particular foods and beverages, but they didn't make it to the first dish before a series of beeps resounded from the pilot console.

Corian was immediately on guard. "What's that?"

"Proximity alert."

Sky strode back to the cockpit with Corian right behind him to find a large planet looming off the port bow of the shuttle, about one hundred kilometers below them. Its bright surface seemed to shimmer and undulate.

Sky slid into his seat and was just about to resume manual control when something, an ineffable instinct, kept him from disengaging the autopilot. He loosely gripped the control stick mainly for show, even though Corian hadn't noticed anything.

"Why are we passing so close by this planet?" Corian wanted to know as he peered around him.

"You wanted the most direct route to your meeting point," Sky told him. "And cutting across the atmosphere of this planet is it."

The planet below them was Zeelos II. An uninhabitable world due to its toxic atmosphere, its surface was pockmarked with hundreds of crater-like indentations, each sporting a large hole in its center.

Sky was familiar with this celestial body, since B-Squad had patrolled this sector only last year. He was also familiar with its recurring spectacle of nature, which seemed be happening again at any moment judging by the steam coming out of several dozens of those center-holes.

Corian noticed it, too. "Whoa, what is happening?"

"Gas geyser eruptions," Sky explained. "Happens all the time down there."

"Is it safe?" Corian looked concerned.

"Yeah, we are too high up to be caught in any gas turbulences," Sky said.

Mollified, Corian leaned forward, craning his neck across the pilot console to get a better view of what was happening far below. Only a moment later, gas plumes were shooting several hundred feet into the air in such volume and with such force that they were clearly visible with the naked eye, even from as far away as the shuttle's cockpit. But the real phenomenon happened when the plumes reached the gases trapped in the planet's lower atmosphere.

The commingling of several different gases and fumes set off a fireworks-like reaction of sparks and bolts that ran like multi-colored lightning across the sky. The result was such an impressive spectacle of light and color that, if Sky hadn't seen it all before during last year's patrol, he probably would have been as mesmerized by it as Corian was now. From the captivated look on the Kraylean's face, it was obvious that he had never seen anything like it before.

And with a start, Sky realized that this was his chance.

Corian's posture was relaxed, his gun held loose and pointing to the floor while he was watching the color-and-light display below him with wide eyes. But most importantly, he was within range and he was distracted.

Sky kept his right hand on the control stick, keeping up the pretense of flying while his left hand surreptitiously balled into a fist.

 _I can switch off all of your senses, cut you off from every sensation. How long do you think you can stay sane inside the big black nothing?_

Sky grit his teeth in an attempt to subdue a shudder at the memory of that threat. He squeezed his fist so hard he felt the nails cut into his palms.

He could not let fear immobilize him. Morpher or no, he was still a Ranger first and foremost, and as a Ranger he had an obligation to protect Earth from criminals like Corian. He couldn't let him get away; he had to try again.

Corian's no-more-seatbelts rule now worked to his advantage as he slowly and incrementally shifted in his seat, re-positioning his body for the best leverage for what he was about to do.

Corian was still staring out at the colorful spectacle with an expression of almost childlike wonder that was very much out of place on the face of such a hardened criminal.

Now or never.

Adrenaline surging through him, Sky put everything he had into the punch. With a wordless exclamation of rage, he shot out of his seat, slammed his left fist into the alien criminal's jaw and watched with immense satisfaction as Corian's head snapped back violently and he emitted a cry of surprise and pain. Sky immediately followed up on the uppercut with a right hook to the alien's temple. He couldn't give the Kraylean even a moment to get his wits together and get back into his head. Corian's hand shot up, but Sky caught his wrist at the same time as he kneed him in the gut, then kneed him again, this time right in the nose when the alien doubled over. Purple blood spurted onto the shuttle floor and the gargled sound coming from Corian made Sky pause, but only for half a second. He had to finish this.

He pulled his fist back and threw his entire body weight behind the punch to the side of Corian's head. The alien's eyes rolled back in his head and he crashed to the shuttle floor like a sack of flour. The whole fight had taken less than ten seconds.

Sky took the Kraylean's own gun and the SPD blaster off him, then rushed to the cockpit, reached into the same compartment that had held the blaster and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Only when Corian lay securely shackled – and still unconscious – by his feet in the passenger compartment did Sky allow himself to relax. He leaned against the bulkhead, breathing heavily. His hand hurt and there were smudges of purple across his knuckles, but it was nothing compared with the elation that was coursing through him.

It had worked; he had pulled off his surprise attack.

He set his blaster to stun. There was no way Corian was getting back into his head once he regained consciousness, and if Sky had to repeatedly stun him all the way back home for that, then he was more than willing to do that.

He paused as another thought hit him. With Corian unconscious, he had no more control now…

Sky held out his hand – and smiled with relief when the familiar blue energy materialized in front of him right away. He was back to himself again!

He headed to the pilot console and reprogrammed the navigational computer with the coordinates for the Delta Base, which he knew by heart, before he opened the comm channel.

"Sky Tate to Delta Base."

"Sky! We hear you." Commander Cruger's voice came across the line almost immediately. "What's your situation?"

"Subject is secured and I am heading back to Earth, sir."

"Well done, Cadet," Cruger said, and Sky grinned when he heard faint cheering in the background.

"I am transmitting Corian's destination coordinates. I'm pretty sure that's where you'll find the rest of his gang, Commander."

"Copy that. I am sending out B-Squad for arrest and containment immediately," came the reply. "What's your ETA?"

"I should be back at base in about two hours, sir. And I'm going to need a solitary maximum security cell for Corian."

"Consider it done. I will meet you on the landing platform with a security detail."

"Thank you, sir. I'll see you in two hours, then. Tate out."

Sky put the SPD blaster in his lap and increased the shuttle's velocity to maximum speed. He had an evening with Bridge to look forward to. Time to head home and make it happen.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

"…you'll see, the view is really worth the hike."

Bridge crested the hill with Sky just a few steps behind him. They stepped out from between the trees and into a small clearing – and all Sky could do was stare at the sight before him, speechless.

Bridge was right; the view was nothing short of spectacular.

A few feet ahead the glade abruptly ended at a steep cliff, and laid out before them was a seemingly endless expanse of nature in half a dozen shades of green, hues of brown and a brilliant blue sky speckled with puffy clouds. Far ahead in the distance, NewTech City looked like a miniature model town at the end of the picture-perfect valley that stretched out below them.

It had taken some time to get here; the national park was almost an hour's ride from the city on their Delta Cycles, then a rather steep hike up a rocky trail until Bridge suddenly veered off the path and led them through the woods along a deer path Sky would have never noticed by himself. Ten more minutes of navigating through some dense underbrush had then led them to the edge of the woods and to this clearing.

And it had indeed been worth the trip.

Bridge came up next to him and in companionable silence they looked out over the beautiful sights ahead of them.

A familiar feeling of peacefulness seeped into him. The place never failed to quiet his mind, and he took in a lungful of clean air and just let the feeling flow through him.

Next to him, Sky seemed to be experiencing the same thing; gazing out over the amazing view, Sky looked relaxed and…happy. It was a good look on him, and watching Sky's handsome profile was suddenly a lot more interesting than watching the scenery.

The content look on his partner's face also proved to Bridge that he had made the right decision by telling him about the clearing.

Last night, after a movie and a serious making-out session, Bridge had spontaneously asked Sky if he wanted to go on an overnight camping trip with him to _'this place I know'._ It was partially because Cruger had given them all the next two days off, but also because he was so damn glad that Sky had made it back safe and sound, especially after he had told him about Corian's extraordinary powers.

This was Bridge's special retreat, his quiet place. A place he and his parents had stumbled upon almost a decade earlier by getting lost in the woods while hiking. A place he could withdraw to every now and then when he needed to purge his mind of all the mental and emotional pile-up that came with living with hundreds of people in a relatively small area such as the Delta Base.

He had never brought anyone along on his trips up here. Until today.

Next to him, Sky took his eyes off the view to take a closer look around their surroundings. He gestured at an old campfire ring. "That yours?"

Bridge nodded. "Yeah, it's been a few months since the last time I was here, and it looks exactly the way I left it," he said. "I really don't think anyone else knows that this place even exists."

He pointed back towards the trees. "There is a small stream a little further down through the woods. We can fill up the canteens there. I brought some water purification tablets."

"Let's set up camp, then."

They spent the next hour putting up their small two-man tent, setting a perimeter alarm for later, collecting kindling, lighting their campfire and getting water from the creek.

Technically, they didn't need the fire; it was a balmy July evening, their MRE rations came in self-heating packaging, and they had both brought along flashlights.

Bridge insisted, however, that camping wasn't camping without a real fire, and so they sat on their spread-out bedrolls around the fire ring, watching the flames pulsate in orange, yellow and red while they spooned their dinner from their MRE packets and watched the shadows lengthening all around them as the full moon slowly emerged in the late afternoon sky.

Bridge pointed upwards with his spoon. "To think that less than one hundred years ago people might have sat at this very same spot, looked up at the moon and had absolutely no way of getting there."

Sky nodded while he took a sip from his canteen. "While we can hop on a shuttle and be there in an hour."

"Hey, have you ever been at that awesome diner in the Armstrong Annex of the moon base?"

"Yeah. I love those pink-speckled cookies they serve there."

"You mean the ones that start wiggling by themselves if you leave them on your plate too long?" Bridge grinned. "Yeah, those are great!"

Their conversation ebbed and flowed for the better part of the next hour while a gentle breeze rustled the tree tops around them and the violet sky was turning indigo. The first stars appeared and the crickets promptly began their all-night serenading, replacing the chirping of the birds. Night was settling over the park.

Sky was poking at the fire with a stick, making the lambent light dance across his face and arms in golden hues. "Thank you," he said suddenly, quietly, and Bridge shot him a confused look.

"For what?"

"For bringing me here," Sky elaborated. "This is _your_ special place, and you chose to share it with me." There was a depth of emotion in Sky's voice that Bridge had rarely heard before. "That's a lot of trust on your part, and I really appreciate that."

"I trust you with my life, Sky," Bridge said without even thinking about it, and it was neither flattery nor lip service. It was simply the truth. "And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with up here." He pressed closer to him, bumping Sky's shoulder with his. "I'm really glad you're here with me."

Sky's smile was soft and warm and there was no way Bridge could not kiss him right now.

Sky reciprocated eagerly, wrapping his arms around Bridge, and for the next few minutes they simply sat by the fire, kissing, touching, breathing each other's air. Sky's hand cupped the back of Bridge's head, his mouth warm and promising as he slid his tongue into the Green Ranger's mouth, and the next thing Bridge noticed were the fingers of Sky's other hand curling into the hem of his shirt.

Sky pulled away from Bridge, his eyes asking the silent question, and Bridge simply raised his arms in consent. Sky pulled the shirt over his head, and as soon as Bridge's arms were free he was reaching for Sky's t-shirt in return. When Sky was divested of his garment, the two Rangers looked at each other in the flickering firelight, taking in views they had seen so many times, but never this close. And this time they could finally touch.

Sky touched his hand to Bridge's chest, careful and tentative, his fingers barely connecting with the skin, as if he was wary of Bridge's reaction.

"Is this gonna be ok?" he asked solemnly.

Bridge went for the truth. "I dunno, I never got this far."

"Let's find out, then."

They came together in a cautious hug, their first skin-to-skin contact electrifying and amazing. The comforting familiarity of Sky's aura settled over Bridge like a warm blanket while Sky's gentle fingers were gliding up and down his back, slowly mapping the broad expanse of shoulders and back, along the spine and back down to his waist.

Naked chests pressed together, Sky kissed his way from Bridge's shoulder to the side of his neck. "Just let me know if you need space," he rasped, lips close to Bridge's earlobe, and a shudder went through the Green Ranger at the deep timbre in Sky's voice that promised so much more to come. If Bridge could handle the psychic input.

Bridge knew it would be hard for Sky to reign in his galloping hormones, but there was no question in his mind that he would back off immediately if Bridge indicated that he was getting overloaded.

Which, strangely enough, he wasn't.

His skin seemed to tingle in the aftermath of the Blue Ranger's kisses. And all of a sudden, instead of too much, it wasn't _enough_!

He needed to feel more of Sky, needed to feel him without _anything_ between them, and since the skin-to-skin contact pretty much cancelled out the effectiveness of the gloves anyway… Sky's eyebrows arched in surprise as Bridge suddenly let go of him, peeled off his gloves and tossed them aside.

"Can I?"

Sky nodded, took Bridge's hand and placed it on his chest above his heart, reminiscent of the way Bridge had done two weeks ago when they spilled their feelings to each other in their room.

Desire, joy, love – Sky's emotions washed over him and Bridge took them all in as his bare hands roamed over Sky's muscled arms and chest. It was actually surprisingly easy. With just the two of them up here and no one else around, there were no psychic distractions from other sources; only Sky's aura and the echo of his emotions, and since Bridge had two years to get used to both, he was now more than pleased to discover that it didn't strain his mind nearly as much as he had anticipated. Sky was also pretty much feeling exactly as he was feeling at the moment, so there were no conflicting emotions to deal with.

Bridge's breath hitched at the sudden revelation that sex was actually going to be an option, right here, right now…

Sky seemed to have read his mind. "Are you up for more?" he asked quietly.

Bridge knew that Sky didn't mean _physically_ , because pressed up against each other as they were, there was no way that Sky _didn't_ feel how very much Bridge was ready for more.

Sky was definitely ready for more, too, because the bulge that was pressing into Bridge's groin was impressive. Definitely something he wanted to investigate further.

Bridge had no idea how much mental stamina he could muster. This was brand-new territory for him, after all, but so far all signs were positive that this could work.

They _would_ make it work somehow. There was no way he was stopping this now.

Sky was kissing him once more, and this time the Blue Ranger gently yet insistently pushed him backwards, easing Bridge down onto the bedroll. Further undressing involved a lot more touching, kissing and exploring, but finally they found themselves in a tangle of arms and legs with nothing but hot, naked skin between them. Bridge found that he couldn't get enough of the feel of Sky beneath his hands as he caressed the smooth skin, tracing biceps and deltoid, fluttering over shoulder blade and collarbone. All the while Sky watched him with a heat in his gaze that kept Bridge's heartbeat well above the normal rate, and it sped up even more when Sky began to move against him, pressing their erections together. His hand slid down between them and Bridge bit his lip and groaned when Sky's hand closed around both of their cocks.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. This is nice." It was way better than nice, but at the moment there didn't seem to be any blood left in his upper body to supply Bridge's brain with a more suited choice of vocabulary.

Sky's gaze was steady on him. "I want to make this good for you, but I'm gonna have to warn you; I might not last very long."

Bridge snorted. "Do you think I will? But hey, there's always Round Two, right?"

Sky smiled, leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "Right." He virtually draped himself over Bridge, his lips moving from Bridge's mouth to his jaw and down to his throat.

Sky's breath was hot on his skin as he continued to kiss his way lower, down to Bridge's chest, mouth latching onto a nipple and _god, that felt so good…_

Sky took some time alternating between the two nubs before he resumed his trek south, over Bridge's stomach, and Bridge held his breath in anticipation when Sky arrived between his legs. There the blond head drew back, and Sky's eyes seemed to flicker in the firelight as he looked back up at Bridge. "I've never tried this part before, so…"

"Don't worry, I'm not awarding performance points today," Bridge panted, and even to his own ears he sounded almost embarrassingly breathless.

"Good to know." Sky chuckled, and a moment later Bridge's heartbeat instantly doubled when he felt the first touch of Sky's tongue. His hips jerked involuntarily and a strained groan escaped his lips when his partner's mouth enveloped the head of his straining cock.

"Oh god…"

Bridge could feel goosebumps breaking out all over his arms as Sky's mouth and hands on his skin did things to his body and mind he could have never imagined. He clutched at the grass, pulling out clumps of it, the pressure already nearing its peak… _no, not yet!_

He wasn't ready for _that_ level of intimacy yet, and he was pretty sure neither was Sky. Besides, it was at least five minutes ago that Sky had last kissed him. Way too long.

"Sky…" Bridge pawed at Sky's shoulder. "Come…come up here."

Sky scooted back up Bridge's body, breathing heavily, eyes dark, lips red and shiny, and that was a damn good look on him.

"I was lying when I said I wasn't giving out points," Bridge panted. "You're a ten. Definitely." He pressed his mouth to those incredible lips and Sky's mouth opened under his.

"Not true, but thanks for the compliment." Sky said when Bridge let him come up for air. Then his grin turned wicked as he settled against Bridge's hip. "But it's not my ego I want you to stroke."

Bridge's grin mirrored his as he reached for Sky, only too happy to comply. His hand closed around the velvety steel of Sky's rigid flesh, and the Blue Ranger's eyelids fluttered closed at his first few rhythmic pumps.

It felt strange at first to hold another man's cock, but it didn't take Bridge very long to get the hang of it. He tried out Fast and Tight, running his thumb over the tip of Sky's arousal with every other upstroke, and that strategy turned out to be the right one. Sky swallowed hard, made a breathless noise in the back of his throat and dug his fingers into Bridge's biceps. The next thing he knew Sky was kissing him like it was the last thing he would ever do. His hand had stalled when Bridge began to stroke him, but now he resumed his ministrations on Bridge's cock with renewed vigor.

Bridge was floating on euphoria; with Sky's tongue in his mouth, his cock in his hand and his emotions coursing through his mind, he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of _closeness_ he had never experienced before. It didn't matter that their rhythms didn't quite match or that the right side of his body was off the bedroll and grass and pebbles were scratching and tickling his skin.

"Sky…"

Fire, hot and wonderful, seemed to pool in his groin. The end was inevitable. Bridge thrust up into Sky's fist and his groan came from his very core, colors exploding behind his closed eyelids as he convulsed under Sky's hands, and it was the most intense thing Bridge had ever felt. He somehow retained enough peace of mind, however, to continue stroking Sky, for he sensed that he was close as well.

Sky wasn't far behind him indeed; the sight of Bridge's orgasm had an obvious effect on the Blue Ranger. His face flushed, his breath came in short, ragged gasps until he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and gave a hoarse moan. Hot release spurted over Bridge's hand. The psychic echoes hit Bridge like a second orgasm and a sigh escaped his throat as he continued to pump Sky a few more times for good measure.

Sky collapsed on top of him. Bridge slid his arms around him and for a few moments breathing was their only movement. Bridge could feel the frantic beating of Sky's heart against his chest. He carded his hand through his partner's short hair, relishing the feel of the blond strands running through his bare fingers while Sky gently kissed his neck.

"Wow, that was…" The right word once again eluded Bridge. He chalked it up to still being dazed by the profoundness of what just happened between them.

"Great? Fun? About damn time?" Bridge could feel Sky muttering against his neck and he smiled into the night.

"All of those. Also blew my mind in a completely different way than I'd thought it would."

"In a good way, though, I hope." Sky said.

"The best." Still smiling, Bridge lifted their interlaced hands and placed a kiss on Sky's knuckles. Some of them were still abraded from when he had hit Corian. "You know…I foresee a lot of research into wilderness camping for us."

"Or maybe we should just start building a cabin right here."

The two men shared a chuckle that ended in another kiss. That kiss chased another and another until Sky murmured against Bridge's lips that they had sticky fingers and sticky stomachs to clean up.

Secretly, Bridge didn't mind being stuck together forever - in every way -, but Sky was a neat freak and was already moving to extricate himself from Bridge's embrace. Eager to drag out the afterglow, Bridge locked an arm around Sky's waist while he blindly reached around with the other to grab at whatever item of clothing was closest. It turned out to be his t-shirt. That would do.

Sky, however, only gave him a wry look, shook his head and disentangled himself from Bridge to rummage through his backpack inside the tent. He returned a minute later with his canteen and a washcloth, and Bridge couldn't help but grin; leave it to Sky to bring a washcloth on an overnight camping trip.

They cleaned each other up, re-dressed and Bridge once again donned his gloves. As amazing as it had been to touch Sky without them, it was another matter entirely to leave them off for the whole night. It wouldn't make for a restful sleep, and sensing Sky's unguarded emotions while he slept would feel like an invasion of privacy.

He grabbed his canteen to pour over the campfire while Sky shook out their bedrolls and took them inside the tent. The fire had burned down to glowing embers, so extinguishing it completely only took a few moments, and when Bridge crawled through the tent flaps he found that Sky had made a nest of their bedding right in the middle of the tent.

"I thought we should put the bedrolls together and share the sleeping bags," Sky suggested. "You know, for warmth."

It was July, the bedrolls were threaded with self-heating infrared carbon fibers and their sleeping bags were insulated to withstand freezing temperatures.

"Yeah, sure," Bridge said with a smirk as he slid beneath the unzipped covers and into Sky's waiting arms.

Their slight height difference worked perfectly for spooning, and they instinctively arranged themselves with Bridge's back pressed up against Sky's chest. In the dark, Sky's hand found his, bare fingers interlacing with leather-clad ones and Bridge never wanted to move from this position ever again.

"Sky?" he whispered.

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

"Love you too," came the sleepy reply, accompanied by a kiss to the top of his head.

Drowsy, warm and comfortable, Bridge closed his eyes, smiling into the dark at the end of possibly the best day of his life. A day that had culminated in him losing his virginity to the man he loved. How could it possibly get better than that?

 _With Round Two_ , his brain immediately supplied. Which would hopefully be happening upon waking up.

But for now – sleep. Bridge exhaled, listened to the crickets and let Sky's calming energy flow over him to guide him towards sleep.

He knew it still bothered Sky that they were breaking SPD regulations, but out here, dressed in civilian clothes, their Delta Cycles parked down the path and out of sight, morphers tucked away in their backpacks, it was surprisingly easy to imagine that they were just two normal guys.

And for now, off-duty and away from base, they were.

Here he was, curled against the man he loved; it was real and solid and more than he ever thought he could have. It was – home.

THE END


End file.
